Phillip Hughes: 'No one to blame' for Australian cricketer's death

Updated 9:09 AM ET, Fri November 4, 2016

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Photos:Phil Hughes: 1988-2014

Phil Hughes: 1988-2014 – Australia international Phil Hughes died on November 27 2014, two days after being hit by a cricket ball while playing a professional match for his South Australia side in Sydney.

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Photos:Phil Hughes: 1988-2014

Phil Hughes: 1988-2014 – Hughes made 26 Test appearances for Australia, hitting 1535 runs at an average of 32.66.

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Photos:Phil Hughes: 1988-2014

Phil Hughes: 1988-2014 – In 2009, the 20-year-old became the youngest international cricketer to ever hit back-to-back centuries, achieving the feat against South Africa in Durban.

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Photos:Phil Hughes: 1988-2014

Phil Hughes: 1988-2014 – Hughes, whose mother and sister were present at the Sydney Cricket Ground when he suffered his devastating blow, celebrates victory with father Greg following his Test debut with Australia in 2009.

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Photos:Phil Hughes: 1988-2014

Phil Hughes: 1988-2014 – Hughes' international career suffered its ups and downs, with the batsman dropped during a disappointing Ashes series in England in 2009. He rebounded, most notably in 2012, and he was believed to be a week away from an international recall when playing the fateful match against former side New South Wales in November.

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Photos:Phil Hughes: 1988-2014

Phil Hughes: 1988-2014 – Hughes was named Australia's Domestic Player of the Year in 2013.

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Photos:Phil Hughes: 1988-2014

Phil Hughes: 1988-2014 – In January 2013, Hughes became the first Australian to make a century in his maiden one-day game. Against Sri Lanka in Melbourne, he made 112 runs from 129 balls.

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Photos:Phil Hughes: 1988-2014

Phil Hughes: 1988-2014 – The batsman was also capable of keeping wicket, doing so in a Test match against Sri Lanka in 2012.

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Story highlights

Australian cricketer was hit on the neck by a ball

Died two days later in hospital

(CNN)Nobody expects to go to work and never come home.

Just under two years ago, Phil Hughes was struck by a 140 kilometer an hour "bouncer" on the back of his neck, delivered by fast bowler and former teammate Sean Abbott.

On the cusp of a recall to the Australian Test team -- cricket's highest honor -- Hughes would never get that opportunity, dying of a brain haemorrhage in hospital 48 hours later, three days short of his 26th birthday.

Now an inquest led by New South Wales coroner Michael Barnes has ruled Hughes' death was accidental.

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"There is absolutely no suggestion the ball was bowled with malicious intent," said the report after examining what had happened in that first-class match between South Australia, who Hughes played for, and New South Wales in Sydney.

"Neither the bowler nor anyone else was to blame for the tragic outcome."

Fatal consequences

Of the 23 "bouncers" -- a ball delivered with the intent of bouncing up towards the batsman's torso -- bowled that day, 20 came Hughes' way, the report states.

However, such was his superior skill with the bat, Hughes was "comfortably dealing" with the short balls directed at him -- save for the last one.

"A minuscule misjudgement or a slight error of execution caused him to miss the ball which crashed into his neck with fatal consequences."

During the October inquest, the counsel representing the Hughes family claimed nine consecutive short balls bowled at the batsman "was going too far."

The family walked out of the hearing after several players claimed they couldn't recall incidents from that day.

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Despite being lauded as a gentleman's game, sledging has been prevalent in cricket since its inception.

Indeed, the coroner's report found that "one experienced player said it had occurred in every high level game he had played in, except the one he participated in the weekend after Hughes' death."

The aim is to use humorous, insulting or threatening language in a bid to unsettle or intimate a batsman, but it is up to the umpire to decide whether it crosses the line of gamesmanship and should be stopped.

Barnes states that there was no evidence, based on how competently Hughes was batting that on the afternoon of November 25 2014, to suggest he was unnerved by any sledging aimed in his direction.